Women's interests in bondage, discipline, dominance/ submission, and sadism/masochism (BDSM) behaviors are one of the most poorly understood research topics, even though erotica novels-typically read by women-are increasingly including these activities. The present study explored potential links between women's engagement in BDSM behaviors, consumption of erotica literature, relationship communication and satisfaction, and overall well-being using a multi-study approach. Results from three exploratory studies using multiple methodologies revealed a positive association between erotica, BDSM behaviors, and physical satisfaction, but brought attention to the relatively little information available for women who are interested in practicing alternative sexual behaviors. Practical suggestions for social scientists and mental health professionals are provided.Keywords Fantasies . Erotica/pornography . Sadomasochism . Bondage/discipline . women's sexuality . Online experiments . SexologyResearch on the consumption of sexually explicit material (SEM) has not kept up with technological advances in access and engagement, and it is unknown how innovative SEM use affects relationships (Morgan 2011). Research on SEM consumption disproportionately focuses on men, noting negative outcomes when sexual experiences do not match the fantasized version of pornography (Blais et al. 2008;Mackay 2001). The skewed information might be due to pornography consumption being typically considered a masculine behavior whereas reading erotica literature (also known as romance novels) has been associated with women despite the content of both mediums being categorized as sexually explicit material (Canli and Gabrieli 2004; Paul and Shim 2008).Menard and Cabrera (2011) analyzed 20 award winning romance novels between 1989 and 2009 and found that 90.4% of the sex scenes conformed to sexual scripts with no occurrence of alternative behaviors such as anal stimulation or BDSM (defined in the following). The popularity of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy (James 2012a, b, c)-and the impact messages in media can have on sexual health (Bonomi et al. 2014)-revealed a research gap in understanding how sexual behaviors not included in traditional sexual scripts are introduced in erotica and its impact on women's relational and mental satisfaction. Further, it is virtually unknown whether online engagement with erotica genre websites, fan fiction, fantasy art, and discussion boards related to popular SEM novels plays a role in individual and relationship well-being by introducing sexual behaviors.Without empirical research on women's contemporary SEM consumption and its interplay with introducing new sexual behaviors, family life educators, practitioners, and marriage and family therapists are unequipped to fully address potential issues surrounding sexual attitudes and experiences resulting from a desire to engage in new sexual behaviors such as BDSM. Instead, practitioners are left relying on popular Electronic supplementary material The online version o...
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